


Beta Gems

by nebulaesailor



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Family Fluff, Found Family, Gen, holly blue is a bitch, jasper is actually happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 13:02:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9550289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nebulaesailor/pseuds/nebulaesailor
Summary: AU where Yellow Diamond never claimed Jasper for her court and she instead lives with her beta sisters at the zoo and is actually happy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by a tumblr post about how different Jasper would be if she had been able to be with the other Earth gems at the zoo. I was just itching to write about so here it is! #ReuniteTheBetaGems2K17

Jasper sat in her cubbyhole in the barracks with her head against the wall and her eyes closed, listening to the obnoxious laughter and chattering of the amethysts below her. They were so cliquey and loud compared to her beta sisters. They roughhoused and banged on the walls when she was trying to sleep or just trying to have a conversation with another gem. She honestly didn’t know how they were from the same planet as her. 

“Can you shut up down there! Some of us are actually trying to rest!” She yelled, slamming her fist into the wall, leaving a sizable dent. 

A bunch of purple heads turned to her and suddenly burst out laughing. 

“Lighten up, Beefy!” One Amethyst responded. 

“It’s not Beefy Jasper if she’s not angry at something!” Another one shouted. Jasper gripped the sides of her cubbyhole, her face turning redder than the sandstone she was made from. 

“Aw Beefy’s playing organic again!”

“I think Beefy and Holly Blue were hole mates! They’re so similar!” That comment did it for Jasper.

She jumped out of her hole, landing on the ground with a thud that shook the ground like a small earthquake. There was no more snickering coming from the amethysts.

“Come and say that to my face! I’m going to ground your gem underneath my boot and bury the remains in the human waste container!” She snarled, leering at the amethyst who made the offending comment who now was hiding behind the other amethysts for protection.

“Can’t you take a joke, Beefy? You have no sense of humor!” One of the amethysts who was protecting the target said. Jasper pushed her and others out the way like flies over a piece of watermelon. 

She was just about to raise her fist to punch the Amethyst, only to feel a soft but firm hand on her shoulder. 

“Leave them alone, Big J. These clods aren’t worth wasting the energy by beating them up. Even if you do, Holly Blue will hear the racket and you know who she’ll go after.” Skinny Jasper said, trying to convince her sister to not punch the daylights out of the quivering amethyst who looked about ready to cry. 

Jasper dropped her fist and allowed Skinny to lead her away from the group of amethysts. They walked to the far end of the room where most of the other betas congregated, trying to separate themselves from the primes as much as possible. Jasper slammed her fist hard against the cold white metal of the cubby. No one did as much as blink, all of them were used to Jasper’s temper tantrums. Skinny placed her small hand on her shoulder in sympathy and reassurance. 

“WHY ARE THEY SO OBNOXIOUS!!!” She seethed, repeatedly punching and kicking the wall in an attempt to release at least some of the rage that was boiling inside her. Skinny just sympathetically nodded her head, just glad it was the wall instead of the amethyst. 

Once Jasper was done assaulting the wall and had come to some semblance of rationality, she slid down so she was sitting with her knees to her face. Skinny was sitting at her side running her fingers through Jasper’s long unkept hair. 

“I wish I had at least been able to get in one punch. Do you know how long it’s been since I got in a real fight? At least nine rotations! NINE!” Jasper ranted to Skinny who nodded and agreed, partially listening to Jasper’s almost hourly vent of what was pissing her off. 

They had always been there for each other since the day they popped out of their respective holes back in Beta. During the war, they always had each other's backs and when the Crystal Gems decided to play unfair and fuse, they’d fight fire with fire and take them out with a single punch by Mega Jasper. Even now they still protected each other. Jasper would always be the one to take the fall even if meant getting the brunt of Holly Blue’s wrath. Skinny would always be there to comfort her and drag her bruised beaten body back to the barracks when Holly Blue’s beatings had been especially harsh. 

Perhaps it was because their exit holes were so close to each other and that they came out at the exact same time, they had such a close bond. They were twins after all. 

“Hey Big J, why are you all mad like that?” A small rudy head poked out of a cubby on the highest level, peering down at Jasper and Skinny. 

“Mind your own business, Runt.” Jasper replied, going back to sulking over her lost fight. 

“You know I can’t do that. Bombs away!” Carnelian said before launching herself from her cubby and crash landing into Jasper’s large chest. 

“Ow! What the hell are you doing!?” Jasper tried prying her off of her, only to have her scrambled onto her broad shoulders and refuse to budge. 

“Hello, Carnelian. You’re as reckless as ever.” Skinny said before going back to playing with Jasper’s hair. 

“Ha. At least I landed on Big J this time! Last time I nearly cracked my gem when I landed on the floor!” She giggled to herself before swinging her feet unknowing into Jasper’s breasts. 

“Will you stop kicking me in the chest, you stunted pebble,” Jasper said to her irritating shorter sister, slamming her back repeatedly into a wall in an attempt to dislodge her. As persistent as ever, Carnelian clung on. Jasper gave up on trying to remove her after that. 

As hair pulling-ly obnoxious as she was, Jasper had a soft spot for her much shorter younger sister. She had been one of the last gems to emerge from the Beta Kindergarden, and like Skinny was one of the most defective. Jasper was about to be shattered by some crazed bismuth when the stocky gem launched out of her hole, right into the bismuth’s side and sent her sprawling. Together, they sent the burly gem scrambling away for a different target. Despite being so vertically challenged, she was an energetic and explosive fighter. A quality Jasper reluctantly admired about her. 

Jasper let out a sigh, feeling the anger burn away to charcoal in her chest. Carnelian had stopped fidgeting and for a rare moment, was still and at ease, just content to sitting on her shoulders. Skinny was done fiddling with her hair, and instead was just peacefully leaning into her side. A foreign warm feeling made its way into her stomach, a feeling she didn’t have a name for and was slightly sickened by. 

Perhaps this was love. A concept she was unfamiliar with, most gems didn’t have love unless it was for their diamond. This was different, however, love for a diamond was more deep admiration and an intense desire to protect and serve them until your gem shattered. This love filled her and made her feel whole, it made her feel safe and warm, something she never felt. It was bright, happy, and made her feel lighter. A primal and familial love that you could only have for those you had a kinship with, whether it be formed on the battlefield or when your gems were resting side by side in the same rock for centuries. Jasper would do anything to preserve and protect this love she had come to know by being with her sisters.

All at once, they let out a sigh as if they all shared the same pair of lungs. Even if they didn’t need them, their hearts beat in unison like a steady rhythm that slowly lulled them into sleep. Their eyelids grew heavy as their surroundings fell and blurred away. The amethysts that once annoyed Jasper so much felt as if they were light years away. They dreamed of Beta and the battles they won together despite being the inferior gems. They dreamed of its warm banded sandstone that glowed pink in the hot desert sun. They dreamed of sparring and Jasper always coming up the winner. They dreamed that they were free and there was no agate there to beat them until they couldn’t move. They were happy.

**Author's Note:**

> This took me hours and I wanna die.


End file.
